US-Israel relations remain in crisis. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting in the Oval Office on Nov. 9 seemed like an encounter of a divorced couple discussing their common future. The complete and mutual mistrust turned their conversation into two almost unrelated monologues. Indeed, little was achieved at this summit, except for the expected talks on the security aid package for Israel.
A senior State Department source told Al-Monitor, on the condition of anonymity, that the administration was not disappointed with the meeting, as the president and the secretary of state had no expectations from the prime minister to begin with. “The intervention of Netanyahu in the Iran debate in favor of the Republicans has left irreparable scars regarding the perception here of the prime minister,” he said. The official admitted that prior to the meeting it had been decided to create a facade of mending fences with Israel. Yet the distinction made beforehand by the president, even publicly, of full support for Israel's security on the one hand and broad disagreement on regional policy issues on the other was only strengthened by the meeting. He admitted that bilateral relations remain strained.